Jerry Reese was watching the Giants practice the other day. To his left, Justin Tuck was laughing with his defensive linemates. Across the field, Corey Webster was working with the cornerbacks. And only a few yards away, Brandon Jacobs, sidelined with an injured knee, was needling the running backs during a passing drill.

Three key pieces of the team's foundation. All of them 2005 draft picks.

"I really thought that defensive end was going to be a player," said Reese, the Giants' general manager and former director of player personnel.

Reese was responding to a question about the team's selecting three very good players -- perhaps all Pro Bowl selections very soon -- with only four picks at his and former general manager Ernie Accorsi's disposal. It's looking like one of the best drafts in team history, considering the small margin for error they had after trading two of their picks in the '04 Eli Manning trade and one more to the Buccaneers for offensive lineman Jason Whittle.

Actually, it's probably one of the most impressive drafts in recent NFL history. And it got even better afterward when safety James Butler and linebacker Chase Blackburn were signed as undrafted free agents.

But the first thing Reese recalled was the one that got away -- the sixth-round flier they took on an athletic defensive end from Florida State who would be gone by the start of the following season.

"Personnel people think about the guys they miss," Reese said of Moore, who's now a role player with the Rams. "I know I do."

But focusing on the hits from three years ago, the Giants had three of them -- a trio that played big roles in their Super Bowl run and have been instrumental during this season's fast start, which could run to 11-1 with a victory Sunday in Landover, Md., against the Redskins.

Accorsi always said a draft can't be evaluated for three years. Now, it's safe to look back at the '05 class and we'd better hurry because three of them (Jacobs, Webster and Butler) soon might be going in different directions as free agents. 

WEBSTER FINDS A FIT
After grabbing seven interceptions each in his sophomore and junior seasons at LSU, Webster could have been a first-round pick. Instead, he chose to remain with the Tigers for what was an injury-plagued, disappointing senior year that included only two interceptions.

A first-round talent who had been slowed by several injuries, Webster didn't know when he'd get picked. Well, at least he knew he wasn't getting past the Dolphins at No. 46 because former LSU coach Nick Saban was eager to select him.

Webster won't admit he was disappointed to go to the Giants, but he did say he knew Saban's system would suit him well. And perhaps through his first two seasons, Webster was wishing he had fallen to Miami. Former Giants defensive coordinator Tim Lewis' scheme and abrasive style of coaching had many observers using the "bust" label when talking about Webster.

But Saban ditched the Dolphins to take the job at Alabama, Lewis was fired and the Giants hired former Eagles assistant Steve Spagnuolo.

"They're kind of similar. They're both little guys," Webster said with a laugh of Saban and Spagnuolo. "But seriously, they have the same nature. They're aggressive. That's what they do. They call it aggressive and then go after them.

"What they do with the corners is similar to what I did in college. I had to wait two years to get it, but I'm happy I have it now."

Last winter, Webster had an impressive postseason that included a key interception to set up the winning field goal in the NFC Championship game. This season, Webster has a career-high three interceptions and 18 passes defensed (two more than he has been awarded by official scorers).

"I see a way more confident, focused individual," middle linebacker Antonio Pierce said of Webster, who was benched early last season before regaining his starting job due to injury later in the year. "In years past, when (Lewis) was here, he wasn't that guy. Now, you're seeing what he was able to do in college. He came here and looked like he was going to be that guy but got shell-shocked. Something happened.

"But the last year and a half, he's been the guy we drafted in the second round." 

THANKS, WELLINGTON
There was a debate in the Giants' war room between Webster and Tuck, Notre Dame's all-time sack leader. Ultimately, they decided on Webster.

"If this guy is still here in the third round," Reese said of Tuck, "we'll take him."

When pick No. 74 rolled around, Reese and the personnel staff were mulling several options. Until late co-owner Wellington Mara, sitting in on what would be his last draft, walked up to the board with the names of the remaining players.

"He said, 'Jerry, remember you said you would take this guy if he was still around in the third round,'" Reese recalled. "So that's what I'll always remember about Justin Tuck and that draft."

Reese's selection and Mara's endorsement turned out to be arguably the best value pick since Michael Strahan in the second round in 1993. Quite fitting, considering Reese saw a "left-end build" in the powerful Tuck, whom he tabbed as Strahan's eventual replacement.

Tuck has met those expectations, as he had 10 sacks last season and could have presented a pretty good argument for Super Bowl XLII MVP (two sacks, a forced fumble and several pressures of Tom Brady). Tuck is only a half-sack away from tying last year's total, which is impressive considering he has gotten more attention from opposing offenses. Tuck, who signed a $30-million contract extension through the 2013 season, is also emerging as a team leader and an outstanding representative for the organization.

No wonder defensive line coach Mike Waufle stormed out of the war room when the Giants chose Webster over Tuck.

"Well, that's the myth that he throws out there, anyway," Tuck said.

Waufle had told Tuck before the draft the Giants would take him in the second round.

"I didn't think I'd be there in the second round," Tuck said. "When it didn't happen, I wasn't freaking out or anything, but I was boiling for a little bit. But everything worked out for the best, so I don't worry about it." 

SCOUTING AND SWEATING
Before the '05 draft, the Browns, Bengals and Broncos wanted the 6-5, 260-pound running back from Southern Illinois to work out as a tight end.

"I told them, 'No way. I'm not doing it,'" Jacobs recalled.

Jacobs had as much faith in himself as a running back as Accorsi, who knew what the media's reaction would be when they looked at the measurements of the Giants' fourth-round pick, No. 110 overall. Accorsi wasn't scheduled to address reporters until after the draft, so he immediately sent a message from the war room through the team's public-relations staff that he fully expected to use Jacobs as a tailback, not a fullback.

Accorsi saw a unique (or better yet, freak) talent and he had been on edge all Saturday night and Sunday morning during the break between the third and fourth rounds. There were eight picks at the start of the fourth round. Right before the Giants' pick, the Cowboys took a big, bruising back in Marion Barber from Minnesota.

"The big worry you have in the fourth round is that every club looks at the board closely after the first day," Accorsi said in an e-mail last week. "We sweated bullets the next day until we picked."

Jacobs obviously fell because of the lack of competition in the Missouri Valley Conference. He began his college career at Auburn but transferred when he realized Ronnie Brown and Cadillac Williams were going to get all the carries.

"Hell, Red Grange would have transferred," Accorsi said.

Reese thought Jacobs could contribute immediately as a big complement to Tiki Barber.

"All you had to do was put the tape on," he said. "The thing that jumped out at me was inside the-10 yard line they could not stop this guy. He shredded those guys inside the 10-yard line. That was impressive to me.

"I thought, 'If we get this guy inside the 10, he'll put it in the end zone for us.' He's been able to do that quite a bit for us."

But Jacobs has done more than that and is now the leading rusher (879 yards and 11 touchdowns this season) in the "Earth, Wind and Fire" three-back attack that includes two seventh-round picks in Derrick Ward and Ahmad Bradshaw.

Jacobs said Barber is part of the reason he has become a well-rounded runner.

"I wanted to take what Tiki did and put it toward what I already did to make me one of the best backs in the league," Jacobs said.

Asked if he's accomplished that goal, Jacobs quickly replied, "Yep."

To this day, Jacobs remains motivated by what happened in the third round. Again, it was the Broncos who helped stoke his fire.

"Maurice Clarett went before me. That's all I can think about," Jacobs said. "Even though he's not in the league anymore, that kills me." 

WILL THEY STAY?
The bad part about good draft classes is they're expensive to keep together. In a few months, all the scouting of Jacobs, the patience in waiting for Webster to reach his potential and the faith in Butler to make him a starter last year could all benefit another team if the players sign elsewhere as free agents. There have been no substantive talks with the agents for any of the three, though negotiations could pick up at any moment.

"The bond is strong between us and it continues to grow," Tuck said. "It's no coincidence we're all good friends. I would love for all of us to stay together. I hope that's going to be a reality."